Maurizio Pollini
Born 1942 Pianist and conductor
‘That young man can play the piano better than any of us,’ enthused Arthur Rubinstein on hearing an 18-year-old Maurizio Pollini play his way to victory in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in and Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata for Deutsche Grammophon, beginning a relationship with the ‘Yellow Label’ that would produce a string of acclaimed discs. From 1976, he also took up the baton, though the piano would always remain his priority. His ardent championship of modern music was exemplified by his ‘Progetto Pollini’ series of recitals which, launched in 1995, combined classic and contemporary works.
